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Saturday, 28 April 2012

Definition of democracy as it stands accepted by all is a system of the people, by the people and for the people. It sounds good appearing to be most idealistic in terms of politics as this mode of governance is supposed to involve the people in general without confining it to a limited few like feudal lords, rajas and maharajas who, as is the history, always exploited the people for their own benefit and interest with hardly a few exceptions here and there. To procure this ideal system the people had to revolt at the cost of their life in many a countries throughout the world. Does the system really hold good for the interest of the people in general practically serving their cause is the question. True, dynasties of the earlier rulers are no more there in many a countries including India as they are since replaced by the elected set of persons, elected by the people in general themselves. The experience as per the very scenario obtaining as on date is just much different than what it might have been expected during the days of revolutions. A society quite in a disarray is the scene with lawlessness and corruption flagrantly rampant every where with common people suffering like more or less they did in the days of the then rulers. The difference is only that earlier the people used to suffer in the hands of the then rulers who brutally applied their own rules and laws to suit their whims, fancies and personal interest and the same thing is now done in the garb of democracy by a coterie of persons operating in different locations. The so called democratic system, the rules and the laws so evolved are more taken advantage of by the persons of shady character, criminals, rapists, gangsters, land grabbers and those who are neck deep involved in different modes of corruption.

Sunday, 22 April 2012

Discoveries are there many but all of them may not be meaningfully oriented. In fact only those discoveries count that carry with them a manifestly clear message on the subject failing which they are bound to collapse, they may rather elicit negative results. Those harnessing themselves to the task of making some discovery or the other have to keep in mind that ‘The unbalanced discovery boosts the unseen blast’.

Thursday, 19 April 2012

My book named earlier as ‘Phoenix’ has since been changed to ‘Beyond the barriers’. The book is in publication stage by my publishers at Varanasi duly monitored by Gyanendra. Certain anxieties have been expressed from many quarters in respect of the material the book contains which of course can’t be elaborated at this stage. May be I am able to partly share the contents by way of a synopsis shortly in days to come. Features wise, however, the salient areas so covered in the book, which is some what of an autobiographical nature, are more or less like this –At the outset, At a glance, Evolution of Banking system in India, Emergence of Trade Union(s) in Banking Industry, Trade Unions: Concepts and convictions, Trade Unions and Politics, Relevance of Trade Unions in the context of modern age, Price of leadership, On a personal note, Last page. I respect the queries and the requisitions so made by different people not only in the banking sector but also others from various quarters and I make a note to ensure that they are not deluded in their expectations. I also make a note that the book ‘Beyond the barriers’ comes out of the press as soon as possible to reach those who have already subscribed to it in advance and also the ones who have otherwise been expressing their keen interest in it.

Wednesday, 11 April 2012

I am not that much conversant with the operation on face book, I am rather a novice in the area but whatever I could lay my hands on till now it is enough to convince me that it is most powerful a medium from inter communicational angle. Only the other day while strolling in the park I heard a person talking to another telling some thing like ‘…..as simple as face book’ and this inspired me to resort to operating such a tool without much of a strain on nerves. I quite realise that this tool is most useful a mechanism from the point of view of expressions. I know that there are people taking liberties vomiting their ill conceived fancies in a manner free styled and unbridled as if hankering for jumping to some thing pornographic in the guise of an aesthetic display. This is far from any decency and deserves to be discouraged. Setting aside exceptions of this sort rest of what emanates from the face book is just fascinating as it is full of utility orientation. It is in fact for the users of the face book to direct its usage in a positive manner avenues for which are there in plenty. I like it, I love it.

Sunday, 8 April 2012

Bank of Hindostan comes into existence at Calcutta (now Kolkata) as first to introduce its own paper money which of course was not recognized as legal tender

1786

General Bank of India formed.

1788

Carnatic Bank established at Madras (now Chennai).

1806

June

2

Bank of Calcutta established -It was later renamed as Bank of Bengal

1809

Jan

2

Bank of Calcutta becomes Bank of Bengal circulating their own currency notes as paper money to be accepted later on as valid legal tender for public transactions extending the status equally to other presidency banks viz. Bank of Bombay and Bank of Madras.

1819

Aug

16

Massacre of Peterloo at St. Peters Field, Manchester, occurred killing large number of men and women who had joined a rally of workers.

1829

Aug

17

Union Bank established

1840

Apr

15

Bank of Bombay is established

1843

July

1

Bank of Madras is formed

1861

Paper Currency Act is passed

1865

Allahabad Bank is established.This was the first fully Indian owned Bank

1866

Presidency Banks at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras are granted the status of bankers to the Government of India.

1874

Alliance Bank of Simla is established

1876

Presidency Banks Act is passed.

1884

Oct

A resolution demanding fixation of 8 hours of work in a day at the maximum was passed by Workers Organisation of America (WOA)

1886

May

1

Strike by workers of Chicago where merciless killings at a large scale took place.

1887

Nov

11

August Spice, who alongwith 3 other trade union leaders was hanged for trade union activities, said seconds before his death “…A day will come where our silence will be more louder than our words”.

1890

May Day (1st May) was internationalized.

1895

Punjab National Bank is established.

1906

Bank of India and Canara Bank come into existence.

1907

Indian Bank is established.

1911

Central Bank of India is established.

1919

ILO (International Labour Organisation) is formed.

1920

July

09

Imperial Bank of India Indian Staff Association is formed under the Benevolent Societies Act at Calcutta (now Kolkata). It was duly registered under Indian Trade Unions Act only on 24th May’1932.

1920

Oct

31

AITUC formed under Lala Lajpat Rai's presidentship at New Delhi

1921

Jan

27

Imperial Bank of India established by merging 3 Presidency Banks –Bank of Bengal, Bank of Bombay and Bank of Madras with their 70 offices/ branches throughout the country..

1923

India falls in line in observing 1st May as May Day

1926

Indian Trade Unions Act comes into existence

1935

Reserve Bank of India established as Government of India’s Central Bank. Sir Osborne A. Smith, who was earlier one of the two Managing Directors of the Imperial Bank of India, was appointed as its first Governor.

1937

Indian Overseas Bank established –founder being M. Chidambaram Chettyar.

1946

Apr

20

All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) founded. This is as claimed by AIBEA itself but there is another version that it was established in September’1950 at Jullundur with Soumendranath Tagore, President, All India Imperial Bank of India Indian Staff Federation, elected as the first President and Dayal Das elected as the first General Secretary. In the next conference of AIBEA that followed on 4th March’1951 at New Delhi, G.G. Mehta of Bombay and Roshan Lal Malhotra of Imperial Bank of India Indian Staff Association, Jullundur, were elected as President and General Secretary respectively.

1946

Aug

01

First ever Strike in Imperial Bank of India by Imperial Bank of India Indian Staff Association continuing for 46 days. It was withdrawn on the 15th September’1946.

1946

Sep

26

Indian Banks Association (IBA) is formed at Bombay (now Mumbai) with 22 members which figure has since risen to 159 members.

1947

May

3

INTUC (Indian National Trade Union Congress) formed at New Delhi

1947

Oct

All India Imperial Bank of India Indian Staff Federation (later named as All India State Bank of India Staff Federation) comes into existence.

State Bank of India is formed by replacing Imperial Bank of India. It becomes the first Bank in India to be nationalized.

1955

Dec

28

Pen down strike observed by State Bank of India employees in response to the call given by All India State Bank of India Staff Federation seeking modifications in Sastry Award. This was followed by strike on 6th and 7th January’1956. Mohanlal Majumdar, the then Secretary of the All India State Bank of India Staff Federation was arrested in Calcutta.

1956

Staff Welfare Scheme introduced by State Bank of India by allocating an amount of Rs.10 Lakhs as necessary measure to start with.

1958

New Delhi Local Head Office, a new Circle, opened by State Bank of India.

1959

State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act is passed enabling State Bank of India to take over 8 former State associated banks as its subsidiaries.

1960

Mar

21

National Industrial Tribunal, popularly known as Desai Award, constituted by Government of India. It was headed by Justice K.T. Desai. Published on 30th June’ 1962, the Award was implemented in two parts (1) with effect from 1/1/1962 and (2) with effect from 30/7/1962.

1960

Mar

7

All India indefinite strike in State bank Begins. Major demands included interim relief and payment of additional bonus for 2 ½ months with effect from 1956. It was called off on Federation Secretary Charles Coutto’s telegram ‘Acceptable solutions arrived’. Employees resumed duties on 25/3/1960

1964

Aug

1

Kanpur Local Head Office, a new Circle with 88 branches and 42 sub offices, opened by State Bank of India.

1964

Dec

1

Ahmedabad Local Head Office, a new Circle, opened by State Bank of India.

1965

Feb

1

Hyderabad Local Head Office, a new Circle with 61 branches and 41 sub offices, opened by State Bank of India.

1967

Dec

23

Social Control Bill introduced by the Finance Minister of India, Morarji Desai. The bill, by adding a clause as 36AD in Section 15 of the Banking Regulation Act, aimed at drastically curbing trade union activities of bank employees.

1968

Feb

28

Strike by employees in all the banks including State Bank of India in protest of Clause 36AD incorporated through Social Control Bill introduced by the Finance Minister of India, Morarji Desai. The strike was a tremendous success.

1969

July

19

Nationalisation of Banks -14 major Banks in India nationalized by the Government of India.

1970

Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) is formed.

1971

Oct

01

State Bank of India’s Banyan Tree emblem changed to ‘Shoonya’ (Zero) as a result of personal initiative taken in the matter by the Bank’s Chairman R.K. Talwar.

1972

Jul

1

Patna Local Head Office, a new Circle, opened by State Bank of India.

1972

Jul

1

Bhopal Local Head Office, a new Circle, opened by State Bank of India.

1975

Jun

26

National Emergency promulgated in India by the Prime Minister of the country Indira Gandhi.

1975

Aug

15

Top leadership of All India State Bank of India Staff Federation met Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, in the form of a delegation apprising her of the problems faced by the bank employees during National Emergency in the country.

1976

Jan

State Bank of India joins IBA (Indian Banks Association) as its full fledged member.

1978

Apr

1

First Director of the Central Board of State Bank of India representing workmen appointed with Nirmal Chaudhary as the first incumbent. After his death in December’1982, he was replaced by M. R. Awasthi, the then President of AISBISF, who served as such for two terms.

1980

July

15

Nationalisation of Banks -6 other Banks in India nationalized by the Government of India. With this Government of India owned banking in the country rose to 91%.

1982

Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) formed.

1982

Nirmal Chaudhary, Secretary, AISBISF, falling sick, he hands over his charge to M.R. Awasthi as acting Secretary of the Federation at its headquarters at Kolkata.

1982

Dec

Nirmal Chaudhary is no more. As decided by the affiliates of the AISBISF, M. R. Awasthi from Lucknow and P. Lakshmi Narasaiah from Hyderabad were authorized to jointly act as Spokesmen of the Federation as an interim measure.

1983

Oct

25

General Council Conference of the AISBISF is held at Patna unanimously electing M. R. Awasthi and P. Lakshmi Narasaiah respectively as President and Secretary of the Federation.

1985

Employees of Lal Imli (BIC) at Kanpur went on indefinite strike for 18 days demanding fixed working hours. They won the battle after local Court intervened. It was fixed hours of work with one day weekly off and half an hour as lunch recess.

1986

Nov

20

National Convention on Financial Institutions held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The convention was organized by Mohan Kumar Mangalam, a minister in the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet.

1993

Oct

29

Pension Scheme introduced in other banks (other than banks like State Bank of India) in terms of the settlement signed at the level of the industry.

1995

July

29

State Bank of India Staff Association (Bengal Association consisting of several states of North India) celebrates its Platinum Jubilee at Kolkata.

Friday, 6 April 2012

The holy city of Varanasi and the ghats on the bank of the sacred river Ganges (Ganga) are no more that holy a place as they used to be in the past traditionally since ages where people from all over the country, nay all over the world, used to congregate and take a dip in the waters of the river with the belief that this acted as a vital source to absolve themselves of whatever sins they might have committed in their life. They did so also with the conviction that the type of such a bath coupled with certain rituals in the form of a puja (worship) was a sure way of going to heaven when they die. Such a puja used to be and is still performed on their behalf by the local priests who practically behave more as gangsters than the real holy men. These priests have their own prescribed rates for each ritual and the worshippers are forced to pay them exorbitantly failing which the worshippers have to face their wrath and curse in most crude a form. The most surprising phenomenon is that even in the present day world of ultra modern culture at the level of the society there are people who can’t afford disregarding the dictates of the priests for the fear that this may annoy the so called god men to the detriment of their future births. Such a false belief on the part of the devotees is not only highly ironical it is in fact a grave tragedy which they suffer from for no logical a reason. Only the other day I saw some of the priests on the bank of the Ganga at Varanasi well clad in jeans and multi coloured shirt practicing the puja on behalf of their customers/ devoteesas if they were enjoying some picture in a cinema hall and had nothing to do with their traditional dress of dhoti/ kurta with a vermilion mark on their forehead. It is difficult to comprehend as to why the people should pose their faith in the god men so blindly. What the priests practice and the way they do it in the name of rituals is an act criminal in nature and in fact the devotees themselves are a party to such a crime by voluntarily succumbing to pressure tactics of the god men. Wake up India, wake up.

Tuesday, 3 April 2012

These are the dry leaves of an old tree that once blossomed to sumptuous greenery forming a pleasant look in the past. Now that its days are over it has to feel contented with the new generation of plants and cluster of greener leaves blossoming in its bottom. Some day they too will grow old with their dry leaves fluttering in the air as a vain attempt to survive till they vanish completely. This very much applies to mankind also.

Sunday, 1 April 2012

Romance and sex have all along been most dominant a factor since ages, nay since day one after life started on the earth planet. Chanakya, the great sage and diplomat who was the chief advisor to king Chandragupt Maurya, held a view that women have eight times more anxiety for sex compared to men and this view fully holds good in the case of birds and animals, even creatures. One thing that differs in this context is as to who is a fore runner in the matters of initiatives for the purpose. There it is the male that stands first both in the case of humans and animals. If a man feels proud in offering several temptations like valour, money and wealth to the opposite sex, animals do the same thing and it is the meat that acts as a major incentive in their case as they have nothing like money or wealth to offer. A tiger, besides exhibiting his valour and strength in so many ways to a tigress, no sooner he kills his prey he offers it to her and she easily succumbs to temptation offering her sex to him readily. So does a dog. Blue bulls are known to be vegetarians in strict terms but they drag their female partners to green pastures offering them the leaves of grass, crop and the plants. They are known for keeping three partners at a time. It is a mystery only as to why initiative part is more dominantly played only by males and not that much by females.